Friday, February 02, 2007
The Value of User-Generated Content
There is an increased prevalence of user-generated content (UGC) — discussion groups, blogs, wikis — on the Internet
What is User-Generated Content?
Engineered Content is created by established knowledge experts and content owners who are part of an official intranet team. Engineered content is usually expert edited, meaning it's passed from the content provider to an authority on the subject matter — a sort of quality control stage where the content is verified and edited by an expert if necessary — before it's posted onto the intranet. Since this type of content has a high level of oversight, many users consider it more reliable and credible.
UGC, on the other hand, is created by users themselves. It can be in the form of posts on discussion groups, personal or departmental blogs, or wikis. UGC can come from many of sources — and in much greater numbers than engineered content — with varying degrees of content oversight. Unfortunately, UGC is also more likely to contain biased information, blurring the line between fact and interpretation. In this respect, UGC can end up telling readers more about the author than on the subject matter. Users might view UGC as being less reliable in their decision making process.
User-Generated vs. Engineered Content
If an intranet populated with engineered content is like the 60 Minutes news show, where stories are worked on by veteran reporters and producers, then UGC is a call-in program where viewers themselves provide much of the content — in the form of opinions and questions — for the show. But the differences between user-generated and engineered content extend beyond the issue of who's providing it. There are issues of:
Ownership: Engineered content — commissioned by official intranet teams — is clearly intellectual property belonging to the organization, but who owns UGC? When users provide commentary using corporate resources, will the company or the author own the intellectual property?
Quality and Relevance: Since any user can create UGC, via multiple points of entry, it's more difficult to control the quality and relevance of the content being input.
Structure: Depending on the medium used, it might be difficult to structure, classify, and index (for search engines) free-form UGC.
Credibility:Since all users can become potential content providers, little is known about the credibility of the person and the content being posted
Oversight: If anyone is allowed to create intranet content, how will submissions be governed and moderated (if at all).
Listed below are some of the pros and cons of User Generated Content:
PROS
- Many more methods of content entry, making it less restrictive
- A wider content provider base means more areas of knowledge can be covered
- Provides knowledge experts who aren't part of the intranet team with a medium in which to share their knowledge
- Allows all users the choice of becoming intranet participants rather than just spectators
CONS
- Might cause content overlap or duplication
- The credibility of the source and the content might not always be apparent
- The easy availability of content submission media might cause less-than-helpful users to post biased or questionable content
- Very difficult to organize and structure free-form UGC
Moderating User-Generated Content
- Pre-production moderation: Content is submitted (or edited) by users but isn't made available in the production environment until it's reviewed and verified by a knowledge expert. If they deem that the content is relevant and will be useful to users, the content is made live. Pre-production moderation will ensure the highest level of quality, but there's a delay between the time content is written and when it's made live.
- Post-production moderation: Content is submitted (or edited) by users and is immediately live, viewable by everyone the moment it's posted. Knowledge experts review the live content and make necessary changes (or delete entire entries). Post-production moderation makes content availability much quicker but may contain more errors or irrelevant submissions. The integrity of the intranet will depend on how quickly questionable or irrelevant content is caught.
- Peer-based moderation: Content is submitted (or edited) by users, is immediately live, and is not moderated by official knowledge experts. Users basically govern other users' submissions. If they notice errors or questionable content, they report it to official intranet owners for action. This community driven editing process relies on the conscientiousness of users to ensure the integrity of the content. UGC can also be rated (e.g., on a scale of 1 to 5) by other users to give readers an indication as to the quality of the content.
RFID at Prada
RFID
Prada has put RFID tags on every item at it's New York Epicentre store.
Technology plays an important role in the store. There are video monitors that hang from racks or are embedded in tables.
The dressing rooms feature clear glass that turns opaque when you step on a round black button on the floor.
Inside the dressing room are two boxes made of thick semi-transparent Lucite. Both of which have RFID antennas embedded in them. One box is for shoes and accessories and the other is for hanging clothing. The closet reads the RFID tag and displays information about the item you are trying on a LCD touch-screen. You can also flick through accessories to go with the item or see the item in different colours or items in the same line.
The RFID Prada customer card is a vital asset for the regular Prada shopper. You can shop anonymously, or you can present your card to a sales associate, who scanas the RFID chip in it. You are identified and your preferences are immediatley called up. If you have a favourite sales associate, he or she can be alerted that you have arrived. If not any associate can quickly review your personal preferences. If you have purchased several pairs of shoes recently, the associate might ask if you would like to see a few new designs that have just come in.
The idea is give a level of service that is superior to anything except the by-appointment bespoke services of upscale boutiques.
Prada has put RFID tags on every item at it's New York Epicentre store.
Technology plays an important role in the store. There are video monitors that hang from racks or are embedded in tables.
The dressing rooms feature clear glass that turns opaque when you step on a round black button on the floor.
Inside the dressing room are two boxes made of thick semi-transparent Lucite. Both of which have RFID antennas embedded in them. One box is for shoes and accessories and the other is for hanging clothing. The closet reads the RFID tag and displays information about the item you are trying on a LCD touch-screen. You can also flick through accessories to go with the item or see the item in different colours or items in the same line.
The RFID Prada customer card is a vital asset for the regular Prada shopper. You can shop anonymously, or you can present your card to a sales associate, who scanas the RFID chip in it. You are identified and your preferences are immediatley called up. If you have a favourite sales associate, he or she can be alerted that you have arrived. If not any associate can quickly review your personal preferences. If you have purchased several pairs of shoes recently, the associate might ask if you would like to see a few new designs that have just come in.
The idea is give a level of service that is superior to anything except the by-appointment bespoke services of upscale boutiques.
Sustainable Development
International Institute For Sustainable Development - http://www.iisd.org/
The U.K's Sustainable Development Commission - http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/index.php
"The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) Wales is the Welsh Assembly's independent advisory body on sustainable development. The Commission reports direct to the First Minister for Wales on key policy areas including local government, regeneration and health. This ensures that the work which is going on over the breadth and depth of the sustainable development agenda is widely recognised. SDC helps government departments, local authorities and businesses put sustainable development at the heart of what they do."
The Welsh Assembly's independent advisory body on sustainable development
- http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/wales.php
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Stars of C.C.T.V.
Monday, October 09, 2006
You Tube is an excellent way to get ratings for your videos click here to open You Tube in a new window
You Tube is soon to be available on your mobile in the U.S claims an article published in the New York Times By Matt Richtel on November 28, 2006
Click here for full article
Here in Britain we are in the midst of a music revolution. You Tube, P2P networks and Social networking sites such as My Space, Beeboo and Face Book (click for a comprehensive list of social networking sites) have brought about this revolution. Musicians no longer have to tout their wares to a record companies . They can get their music out there by publishing it online. The fans are the new hit makers, bypassing the men in suits at the record companies.
The Arctic Monkeys are one such band that achieved their fame through the Internet. They were an unsigned band who played local gigs in small backstreet clubs. After uploading demo files to their site they began handing out demo CDs at their gigs with their web address inside the cover. Fans downloaded and shared their music with friends and friends of friends and news of the new talent spread worldwide like a virus. The Arctic monkeys were soon bombarded wit fans demanding to know where they could purchase their music. By the time they got signed they were so popular that their debut single became the fastest selling debut record by a British artist ever. Another such artist who shot to fame online is Lily Allen. She says at the time of joining My Space she didn't realise the potential of using her space as a marketing tool. She initially signed up for an account because "Everybody else was doing it". She never imagined she would gain over 135,000 friends/fans online. She now uses her My Space to keep fans up to date on her career and to inform them of single / album releases and tour dates.
Lily Allen leads the nominations for the Brit Awards this year. The 21-year-old - unknown to all but her My Space friends this time last year - is nominated in four categories including Best British Female. She is also in the running for Best British Breakthrough Act, Best British Album for Alright Still and Best British Single for Smile.
One of her rivals in the Best British Female is Nerina Pallot. The part-French, part-Indian singer-songwriter grew up on the Channel Island of Jersey. She was dropped by her record label in 2001 and considered quitting the business altogether. But her second album Fires, released independently, sold 10,000 copies via the Internet and after-gig sales before it was picked up by a major label. Arctic Monkeys are nominated for Best British Group and for Best British Album.
Salad Fingers
people on the program want to make video but how to make it interactive
interaction with google and You Tube for rating
Radio 2 using it
Chris Moyles
peer 2 peer & my space as marketing tools
Interaction with audiences using my space
Gap in the marketing the film radio industries
copyright issues
snowballing effect with my space
Phenomenon of using camera phones
you can email in videos on "who's been framed"
people using mobile technology
video phone footage from latest gulf war
the Blair witch project - night-vision on big screen
Shift in the way that we do trust thing coming from p2p networks
Network traffic intense when something big happens in one area.
mobiles are centralised networks
diy approach to making news coverage
instead of working for press they work freelance and distribute the media through forums and networks
Independent news gathering services
http://www.indymedia.com/mc/index.php
Compression tools
low resolution images
a lot of people who make movies want to make high compression movies in a controlled environment
data rate
Vectorised graphics are scalable without losing quality and sharpness of images compared to pixelated images
GPRS expensive so would have compressed images
Image quality is down to bandwidth of user
Production
flash technology produced for people distribution of video
opportunity to pitch an animation for a broadcast
peter greenway
light low res approaches to making images
personal project
you can do screen projecting
www.mediawatch.com
